sam blickhan
@snblickhan.bsky.social
She/her. Chicago. People, tech, museums, research. Zooniverse.org Co-Director & #DH lead at Adler Planetarium. PhD. CW Handbook: https://britishlibrary.pubpub.org/
Lapsed musicologist/medievalist. Fiber artist. Musician: https://umbrellabirds.bandcamp.com
Lapsed musicologist/medievalist. Fiber artist. Musician: https://umbrellabirds.bandcamp.com
Pinned
Back To Land, by Umbrellabirds
11 track album
umbrellabirds.bandcamp.com
Happy Friday, bluesky. In a rare moment of sharing something that’s NOT research or fiber art, here’s the new album from my band. Hope you like it.
umbrellabirds.bandcamp.com/album/back-t...
umbrellabirds.bandcamp.com/album/back-t...
Reposted by sam blickhan
Today, after months of requests, I toured the Broadview ICE Processing Facility. I want to share what I saw.
The facility has no food vendor, no medical care, and detainees have to use toilets in the middle of shared cells. These are in no way suitable conditions to be holding anyone — period.
The facility has no food vendor, no medical care, and detainees have to use toilets in the middle of shared cells. These are in no way suitable conditions to be holding anyone — period.
November 25, 2025 at 12:57 AM
Today, after months of requests, I toured the Broadview ICE Processing Facility. I want to share what I saw.
The facility has no food vendor, no medical care, and detainees have to use toilets in the middle of shared cells. These are in no way suitable conditions to be holding anyone — period.
The facility has no food vendor, no medical care, and detainees have to use toilets in the middle of shared cells. These are in no way suitable conditions to be holding anyone — period.
Reposted by sam blickhan
Online tickets are now available for the Fantastic Futures 2025 conference! #FF2025 is the annual conference of the AI4LAM community, jam-packed with inspiration and practical lessons for AI in GLAMs. Sign up to watch all talks on Thurs and Fri Dec 4 - 5 for free! www.conftool.org/fantastic-fu...
Fantastic Futures 2025 - ConfTool Pro - Login
www.conftool.org
November 24, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Online tickets are now available for the Fantastic Futures 2025 conference! #FF2025 is the annual conference of the AI4LAM community, jam-packed with inspiration and practical lessons for AI in GLAMs. Sign up to watch all talks on Thurs and Fri Dec 4 - 5 for free! www.conftool.org/fantastic-fu...
Reposted by sam blickhan
Thanks @plach.bsky.social! for letting @scholarslab.bsky.social display a poster of her 1st yearlong data physicalization: embroidery+beading representing her insomnia, wakefulness, sleep over the course of 2024 (check her #DHmakes posts for 2025's version, w/iterated method+data granularity)
November 23, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Thanks @plach.bsky.social! for letting @scholarslab.bsky.social display a poster of her 1st yearlong data physicalization: embroidery+beading representing her insomnia, wakefulness, sleep over the course of 2024 (check her #DHmakes posts for 2025's version, w/iterated method+data granularity)
Reposted by sam blickhan
Happy Friday, bluesky. In a rare moment of sharing something that’s NOT research or fiber art, here’s the new album from my band. Hope you like it.
umbrellabirds.bandcamp.com/album/back-t...
umbrellabirds.bandcamp.com/album/back-t...
Back To Land, by Umbrellabirds
11 track album
umbrellabirds.bandcamp.com
November 14, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Happy Friday, bluesky. In a rare moment of sharing something that’s NOT research or fiber art, here’s the new album from my band. Hope you like it.
umbrellabirds.bandcamp.com/album/back-t...
umbrellabirds.bandcamp.com/album/back-t...
Reposted by sam blickhan
Seth Rockman: 'Experiential research as a method for IDing questions you didn’t know to ask, rather than providing answers you wouldn’t have had...an experiential research method lets us envision more things we want to know about the past' (experiential=do something the way it was done in the past)
November 22, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Seth Rockman: 'Experiential research as a method for IDing questions you didn’t know to ask, rather than providing answers you wouldn’t have had...an experiential research method lets us envision more things we want to know about the past' (experiential=do something the way it was done in the past)
Reposted by sam blickhan
I love this interview and the parallels between what he discovered as a historian making a thing and realizing all the little decisions a weaver makes in the process, and all the many things DH staff know about doing projects that just don't get written into the record of scholarship. #DHmakes
An interview with a historian who set out to weave a textile of the type that would have been sold to plantations for use by enslaved people, using period equipment.
www.publicbooks.org/cloth-and-co...
www.publicbooks.org/cloth-and-co...
Cloth and Complicity: Seth Rockman on Plantations, Textiles, and the Art of Weaving - Public Books
“But I had found a set of instructions in the archives of one of New England's leading manufacturers of low-end woollen cloth for enslaved wearers.”
www.publicbooks.org
November 22, 2025 at 3:58 AM
I love this interview and the parallels between what he discovered as a historian making a thing and realizing all the little decisions a weaver makes in the process, and all the many things DH staff know about doing projects that just don't get written into the record of scholarship. #DHmakes
Reposted by sam blickhan
theconversation.com/learning-wit...
I think the maddening thing here is many more critical folks who study info search, learning, etc could have (and have been) saying this. The process matters
I think the maddening thing here is many more critical folks who study info search, learning, etc could have (and have been) saying this. The process matters
Learning with AI falls short compared to old-fashioned web search
Doing the mental work of connecting the dots across multiple web queries appears to help people understand the material better compared to an AI summary.
theconversation.com
November 19, 2025 at 3:34 PM
theconversation.com/learning-wit...
I think the maddening thing here is many more critical folks who study info search, learning, etc could have (and have been) saying this. The process matters
I think the maddening thing here is many more critical folks who study info search, learning, etc could have (and have been) saying this. The process matters
Reposted by sam blickhan
Nearly two weeks of surveillance footage from the Broadview ICE Detention Center has been "irretrievably destroyed" and cannot be produced as evidence in a lawsuit against the government over abhorrent conditions there:
www.404media.co/two-weeks-of...
www.404media.co/two-weeks-of...
Two Weeks of Surveillance Footage From ICE Detention Center ‘Irretrievably Destroyed’
"Defendants have indicated that some video between October 19, 2025 and October 31, 2025 has been irretrievably destroyed and therefore cannot be produced on an expedited basis or at all."
www.404media.co
November 18, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Nearly two weeks of surveillance footage from the Broadview ICE Detention Center has been "irretrievably destroyed" and cannot be produced as evidence in a lawsuit against the government over abhorrent conditions there:
www.404media.co/two-weeks-of...
www.404media.co/two-weeks-of...
Reposted by sam blickhan
1/ Announcing GovScape – a public search system for 10 million U.S. government PDFs (70 million pages)! GovScape offers visual search, semantic text search, and keyword search. Explore below:
Website: www.govscape.net
ArXiv link: arxiv.org/abs/2511.11010
Website: www.govscape.net
ArXiv link: arxiv.org/abs/2511.11010
www.govscape.net
November 18, 2025 at 8:19 PM
1/ Announcing GovScape – a public search system for 10 million U.S. government PDFs (70 million pages)! GovScape offers visual search, semantic text search, and keyword search. Explore below:
Website: www.govscape.net
ArXiv link: arxiv.org/abs/2511.11010
Website: www.govscape.net
ArXiv link: arxiv.org/abs/2511.11010
Happy Friday, bluesky. In a rare moment of sharing something that’s NOT research or fiber art, here’s the new album from my band. Hope you like it.
umbrellabirds.bandcamp.com/album/back-t...
umbrellabirds.bandcamp.com/album/back-t...
Back To Land, by Umbrellabirds
11 track album
umbrellabirds.bandcamp.com
November 14, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Happy Friday, bluesky. In a rare moment of sharing something that’s NOT research or fiber art, here’s the new album from my band. Hope you like it.
umbrellabirds.bandcamp.com/album/back-t...
umbrellabirds.bandcamp.com/album/back-t...
Reposted by sam blickhan
Kyle Kingsbury is not a journalist. He is not an op-ed writer.
He is a computer safety researcher.
And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.
In under 1600 words.
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
He is a computer safety researcher.
And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.
In under 1600 words.
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
November 9, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Kyle Kingsbury is not a journalist. He is not an op-ed writer.
He is a computer safety researcher.
And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.
In under 1600 words.
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
He is a computer safety researcher.
And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.
In under 1600 words.
aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
Reposted by sam blickhan
I know many of us are tired, scared & angry. When you can, if you can, channel that into doing what you can to help. Every day it's more clear the only ones who are going to save us ... are us.
Whenever you start to say "people should do x," it's you. You're "people." We're "people." It's just us.
Whenever you start to say "people should do x," it's you. You're "people." We're "people." It's just us.
November 10, 2025 at 5:34 AM
I know many of us are tired, scared & angry. When you can, if you can, channel that into doing what you can to help. Every day it's more clear the only ones who are going to save us ... are us.
Whenever you start to say "people should do x," it's you. You're "people." We're "people." It's just us.
Whenever you start to say "people should do x," it's you. You're "people." We're "people." It's just us.
Reposted by sam blickhan
I just want everyone to have the experience of living in dignity with access to sufficient food, safe housing, needed medical care, high quality education, and time to engage with what sparks their curiosity and spirit
this should not be controversial 🫠
this should not be controversial 🫠
November 10, 2025 at 3:16 AM
I just want everyone to have the experience of living in dignity with access to sufficient food, safe housing, needed medical care, high quality education, and time to engage with what sparks their curiosity and spirit
this should not be controversial 🫠
this should not be controversial 🫠
Reposted by sam blickhan
i’m ready for something different than whatever the fuck this is
November 10, 2025 at 12:51 AM
i’m ready for something different than whatever the fuck this is
Reposted by sam blickhan
The average SNAP benefit per month is $177 a person.
The average ACA benefit per month is up to $550 a person.
People want us to hold the line for a reason. This is not a matter of appealing to a base. It’s about people’s lives.
And working people want leaders whose word means something to them.
The average ACA benefit per month is up to $550 a person.
People want us to hold the line for a reason. This is not a matter of appealing to a base. It’s about people’s lives.
And working people want leaders whose word means something to them.
November 10, 2025 at 1:49 AM
The average SNAP benefit per month is $177 a person.
The average ACA benefit per month is up to $550 a person.
People want us to hold the line for a reason. This is not a matter of appealing to a base. It’s about people’s lives.
And working people want leaders whose word means something to them.
The average ACA benefit per month is up to $550 a person.
People want us to hold the line for a reason. This is not a matter of appealing to a base. It’s about people’s lives.
And working people want leaders whose word means something to them.
Reposted by sam blickhan
They’re wearing masks so they can’t be prosecuted later. As long as they think they can’t be prosecuted, their crimes will intensify. They will torture, starve and kill, as they have already, on greater and greater scale.
Signed, someone who’s covered the unaccountable War on Terror for 23 years.
Signed, someone who’s covered the unaccountable War on Terror for 23 years.
I’ve come to believe that we need to gather considerable forces and a campaign to demand the removal of face masks by ICE, Border Patrol, FBI and police.
It is a practice in conflict with the principles of transparency & accountability that are central to the concept of democracy.
It is a practice in conflict with the principles of transparency & accountability that are central to the concept of democracy.
Video on social media shows an immigration agent pulling a gun in Little Village and holding it to the side — which is not an appropriate or safe way to hold a gun. (Among other issues.)
November 9, 2025 at 2:36 PM
They’re wearing masks so they can’t be prosecuted later. As long as they think they can’t be prosecuted, their crimes will intensify. They will torture, starve and kill, as they have already, on greater and greater scale.
Signed, someone who’s covered the unaccountable War on Terror for 23 years.
Signed, someone who’s covered the unaccountable War on Terror for 23 years.
Reposted by sam blickhan
My latest is a love letter to Chicago. "I see you stumbling through the stubborn, awkward rhythm of showing up, again and again. I see you fighting alongside people who sometimes frustrate and confuse you, and defending neighbors you may have never met, because you know they’re all your people."
In Chicago, We Run Toward Danger Together
"Faced with unrelenting state violence, Chicagoans have refused to be cowed," says Mariame Kaba.
organizingmythoughts.org
November 8, 2025 at 2:46 PM
My latest is a love letter to Chicago. "I see you stumbling through the stubborn, awkward rhythm of showing up, again and again. I see you fighting alongside people who sometimes frustrate and confuse you, and defending neighbors you may have never met, because you know they’re all your people."
Reposted by sam blickhan
Identifying flaws in GenAI unfortunately offers a pretext for claims that perfecting the product is just a matter of time & money. So pointing to chatbots’ role in,say, suicides can only go so far if we don’t also identify the systemic, irresolvable lack of Gen AI’s human commitment bc math has none
November 8, 2025 at 1:51 AM
Identifying flaws in GenAI unfortunately offers a pretext for claims that perfecting the product is just a matter of time & money. So pointing to chatbots’ role in,say, suicides can only go so far if we don’t also identify the systemic, irresolvable lack of Gen AI’s human commitment bc math has none
Reposted by sam blickhan
A family friend was telling us about what her husband shared about his experience in Broadview before he was deported back to Mexico. She's been sharing to friends and family because she's just in disbelief & horror what her husband told her. She wasn't able to talk to him until he was in Mexico.
November 7, 2025 at 3:08 AM
A family friend was telling us about what her husband shared about his experience in Broadview before he was deported back to Mexico. She's been sharing to friends and family because she's just in disbelief & horror what her husband told her. She wasn't able to talk to him until he was in Mexico.
Reposted by sam blickhan
I don’t know how many times I’ve watched this video.
I don’t know how we’ve gotten to the point where men in full balaclavas can abduct daycare teachers while they’re watching children.
But I do know that this isn’t sustainable. Abolish ICE. There is no way to reform this.
I don’t know how we’ve gotten to the point where men in full balaclavas can abduct daycare teachers while they’re watching children.
But I do know that this isn’t sustainable. Abolish ICE. There is no way to reform this.
Federal agents pulling a woman out of Rayito Del Sol, a daycare by Lane Tech high school
November 5, 2025 at 9:42 PM
I don’t know how many times I’ve watched this video.
I don’t know how we’ve gotten to the point where men in full balaclavas can abduct daycare teachers while they’re watching children.
But I do know that this isn’t sustainable. Abolish ICE. There is no way to reform this.
I don’t know how we’ve gotten to the point where men in full balaclavas can abduct daycare teachers while they’re watching children.
But I do know that this isn’t sustainable. Abolish ICE. There is no way to reform this.
Reposted by sam blickhan
BREAKING: Zohran Mamdani wins the New York City mayoral race, NBC News projects. nbcnews.to/4nIzNUC
November 5, 2025 at 2:33 AM
BREAKING: Zohran Mamdani wins the New York City mayoral race, NBC News projects. nbcnews.to/4nIzNUC
Reposted by sam blickhan
The Biden administration worked hard to accomplish this new free IRS filing system. It’s astounding that one should have to pay fees in order to pay their taxes. But this rent seeking is entirely consistent with the economic policies of the current administration that benefit the most wealthy.
👀 Scoop: IRS Direct File, the free government-backed program that let you file your taxes for free, is dead.
IRS wrote to state tax agencies saying it would not be operational this coming tax season, per records I've obtained.
IRS Direct File: 2023-2025.
(Story from when the pilot launched.)
IRS wrote to state tax agencies saying it would not be operational this coming tax season, per records I've obtained.
IRS Direct File: 2023-2025.
(Story from when the pilot launched.)
IRS tests free e-filing system that could compete with tax-prep giants
The tax agency has quietly built its own prototype system for filing tax returns digitally and free of charge, according to current and former officials.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 4, 2025 at 10:50 PM
The Biden administration worked hard to accomplish this new free IRS filing system. It’s astounding that one should have to pay fees in order to pay their taxes. But this rent seeking is entirely consistent with the economic policies of the current administration that benefit the most wealthy.
Reposted by sam blickhan
Broderie d'après Jérôme Bosch.
October 30, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Broderie d'après Jérôme Bosch.